Conferences

I am honoured by Mr. Caramitru's invitation to return to the National Theatre stage on 23^th of November, 2014 to give a talk in front of an audience on a new topic: “Turkey and the happy consumer.”

About the conference

The Happy Turkey is Nassim Nicholas Taleb's illustration, an American-Lebanese author, who recounted it in one of his books in 2010, namely Black Swan (Curtea Veche Publishing House, 2010). So long as the turkey is fed corn, it is happy and lords it in the homeowner's courtyard. Only that, on Thanksgiving Day, americans unfortunately have the bad tradition to eat turkey. Our happy turkey does not know what awaits it and for this reason, it sees no impediment to his happiness. After all, countless days, regularly, it is fed corn. However, there is no doubt that the unfortunate turkey will be served on Thanksgiving Day.

The illustration serves in case of the consumer who borrows to spend. He, too, is happy while spending, even though, as in case of the turkey, he moves “freely” in the indebtedness courtyard to the lender. So long until the liabilities can no longer be covered. Then, as in case of the turkey, consumer's fate is doomed. “The happines” of spending is replaced by the unsettling feeling of over-indebtedness that in the end will throw the consumer in the street along with his family.

The early stoics and Christians set as their ground rule the release from debt. He, who has no debt is happy (felix qui nihil debet). This was what the stoics as Seneca claimed. You must be born anew – The Gospel according to John reads. In today's world, though, it is impossible not to have any debt and upsetting as well. It is possible, though, in the XXI century a partial release from debt to get a new opportunity – a fresh new start, like americans have called it. It is compulsory that the right of man to live and his dignity be observed. For example, the family dwelling it is thought of by ECHR and CJEU as quasi-impregnable, just as a castle.

On the whole, this is the topic of discussion at the Conference that is slated to take place on the 23^th of November, 2014, at 11 a.m. at the National Theatre in Bucharest, says the college professor Gheorghe Piperea, charter member and associate of SCA Piperea and Associates.

About Gheorghe Piperea

Gheorghe Piperea is the charter member of SCA “Piperea & Associates”.

The charter member professional expertise of SCA “Piperea & Associates” lies in his strong theoretical schooling. He has a PhD in law from both the University of Bucharest and the University of Sorbonne I – Pantheon in Paris, his doctoral thesis was “European community acquis in the field of trading companies and capital market” which was graded with the highest mark by both universities.

Gheorghe Piperea is a professor of law at the University of Bucharest Law School, a scientific doctoral dissertations coordinator in the law field and author or co-author of some of the capital books in the legislative and judiciary romanian doctrine, publishing a few courses, commentaries, monographies and professional contributions to media outlets columns in the fields such as trading companies, capital market, insolvency, conveyors rights, code of civil procedure, featuring as well as a pundit and expositor on the pages of various current media outlets.

Gheorghe Piperea has markedly contributed pro bono to the development and improvement of the legislative romanian system by drawing up a slew of legislative acts in the business fields such as: trading companies, sole proprietorship, unfair terms of contract between retailers and dealers, admission in composition with creditors, insolvency, civil bankruptcy, the implementation of insolvency professional occupation and arbitration.

Having a professional experience spanning over twenty years in the legal field, Gheorghe Piperea is both a trailblazer and an exponent of trends in the legislative practice and statute law, respectively, the innovations and solutions that have been thought of and translated into practice together with his team from Piperea and Associates being a drive for the development of the business law field in Romania in the last ten years.

Gheorghe Piperea and his team are the trailblazers of collectiv lawsuits concept, namely, class action in Romania and at the same time the ones who have given effect to it with outstanding results in the fields of jurisprudence, standard contracts or that of legislative implementation. Pursuant to collective lawsuits due to VAT levied on copyright incomes, to those related to military officers and airmen retirement pensions, to those related to allowances given to expectant mothers or for childcare, and especially, pursuant to the collective lawsuits of the allied consumers against the professionals who misused their economic power, case laws have emerged from these lawsuits, laws and governmental legislative acts have been amended and standard contracts used by professionals have undergone sweeping amendations as well.

In the fields such as fixed radars, car registration fee, road tax and illegal tow-aways, the regulations and usual practices have undergone sweeping amendations pursuant to the lawsuits won by Piperea and Associates team, who have made public the outcomes of them, pro bono, so that other legal practitioners can draw or capitalize on them.

All these trends and innovations have been backed up for ten years, from 2004 all-through 2014, by Business Law Conferenes organized by Piperea and Associates in colaboration with Bucharest Law School, drawing on an idea and with the hands-on approach of the charter member of Piperea and Associates, Gheorghe Piperea. These conferences have become over time an annual vantage point in the business law practice, having all the prerequisites of establishing as regular.

Besides Gheorghe Piperea's hands-on approach to many practical activities and numerous academic projects, he has laid the foundations of Parakletos Association, one for consumer protection with a view to becoming a national centre for counselling, a collective lawsuit laboratory for consumers and at the same time a source of regulations and above-board practices that have been commended to the professionals who might be tempted to misuse their economic power. Parakletos Association has also in sight nationwide projects for pupils and students civic education and entends to expand its activity towards the governmental establishments.

Publications:

I am the author of the monography “Trading companies, capital market. Community aquis” and one of the first romanian professionals specialized in capital market legislation and co-author of the fully commented book about the Law no. 31/1990 regarding trading companies, published in five editions (2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2014) at the CH Beck Publishing House under the name “Law of Companies. Comment on articles”. In the same field of trading companies, I have published also “Liabilities and accountability of the trading companies administrators”.

In the insolvency field, I published the treatise “Insolvency: law, regulations, reality”, in 2008, and “Law of admission in composition with creditors”, in 2010, both published at the Wolters Kluwer publishing house. For the treaties “Insolvency: law, regulations, reality” I have been awarded “Octavian Capatana” prize by the Romanian Attorneys Union.

Besides the “Introduction to the law of professional contracts”, published in 2011 at the CH Beck Publishin House, the latest reference books are “The New Civil Code. Comment on articles”, which I co-authored and also “The New Code of Civil Procedure. Notes. Correlations. Explanations”, which author coordinator I am, published at the CH Beck Publishing House.

I am, as well, the author of the courses “Commercial law”, volume I and II, “Conveyance law” and “Commercial law. Enterprise.”

A selection of different important contributions to media outlets:

- Bankruptcy in the international private law, Commercial Law Magazine no. 1/1996 and no. 5/1996

- How to implement the judicial reorganization procedure and dissolution to some special situations, Commercial Law Magazine no. 7-8/1996

- About the amendations to bankruptcy law, Commercial Law Magazine no. 9/2000

- Explanations and criticism to the new bankruptcy legislation, Romanian Pandecte no. 5/2002

- Rebuilding the relations between the syndic judge and the insolvency attorney practitioner, Phoenix Magazine, published by UNPIR, February 2005

- Admission in composition with creditors, a solution to prevent insolvency, Phoenix Magazine, published by UNPIR, February 2005

- Cross-border insolvency, Romanian Law Business Magazine no. 5/2006

- How to prevent insolvency procedures and extrajudicial treatment of the financial depressions, Romanian Private Law Magazine no. 3/2007

- Insolvency procedure as a civil lawsuit (third part), Romanian Private Law Magazine no. 4/2007

- Insolvency procedure as a civil lawsuit (fourth part), Romanian Private Law Magazine no. 5/2007

- Insolvency procedure as a civil lawsuit (fifth part), Romanian Private Law Magazine no. 6/2007

- Private enterprises over-indebtedness and bankruptcy, Supplement no. 1/2007 of the Romanian Pandacte, November 2007

Methods and procedures to prevent insolvency, Supplement II/2008 of the Business Law Magazine

- Regarding the safety provided by court to small private enterprises that are on the brink of insolvency, the Judicial Courier no. 2/2009

- Private individuals insolvency. A long-expected regulation, the Fiscal Courier, no.12/2009

- Lessons to be learned from insolvency – General Motors and Chrysler, the Romanian Business Law Magazine, no. 4/2009

- Enterprises safeguard procedures that are in financial embarrassment, the Romanian Business Law Magazine, no. 1/2010

Translated by Coșoianu Mircea

MTTLC, University of Bucharest